Draft-rigging.



PATENTED PEB. 2l, 1905.

A. C. MCUORD. DRAFT RIGGING. APPLICATION 'FILED PEB. io, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Inventur; E AlvinEMEnrd,

5 (Z ,a/:f Anr' 19.:

PATENTED PEB. 2l,A 1905.

A. C. MGCORD. DRAFT RIGGING.

APPLIUATION FILED FEB. 1o. 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Invennr; Alvin E. MCEUPCI. Eu msm UNITED- STATES vPatented February 21, 1905.

ALVIN c. MCcoRD, or oHIcAeo, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT-HIGGINS..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,919, datedv February 21, 1905.

Application led February 10, 1902. Serial No. 93,403.

To (LZZ wiz/m t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN C. lNIoCoRD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvementin Draft-Rigging, (Case No. 9,) of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact scribed, and defined in the claims.

description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forminga part of this specilication.

' My present invention relates particularly to draft-rigging for railway-cars, and has for its object to improve the same in the several particulars hereinafter noted.

. The invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter de- In the construction of draft-rigging for cars it has hitherto been customary to connect the draft -bar of the coupler to the carbody through the intervention of one or more springsdireetly interposed between the draftbar and some relatively stationary member on the car-body. In practice it has been found that the maximum movement from normal position whichcan be advantageously allowed to the draft-bar is approximately two inches. Hence a spring or springs applied in this resist the intense draft and bumping strains under a compression of two inchesor less, or', in other words, under a compression not in excess of the draft-bar movement. As is evident, a spring or springs of such strength will have but very little elasticity under comparatively light strains and will adord an effective vcushion only to comparatively heavy strains or impacts. Furthermore, even under heavy blows or impacts a perfectly cushioning action is not afforded, because of the considerable force required to impart an initial movement to the spring or springs.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide an improved construction whereby the coupler may be yieldingly mounted upon the car in such manner that the capacity of the spring or other yielding means `employed will be increased and adapted to exert a much greater draw-bar pullI or yielding',

r line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

strain resistance to a bumping-strain than has previously been possible with a spring of a given size or strength. This object I accomplish in a simple manner by the mechanism illustrated inthe drawings, wherein a multi.- plyi'ng lever is interposed between the draftl bar of the coupling and the cushioning-spring in such vmanner that the spring will be given a compressingmovement which is materially greater than the movement of the draft-bar,

thus increasing the elfective cushioning power of, the spring and permitting the use of a' lighter spring than could be used under the old arrangements, wherein the for'ce was applied directly to the spring. Y

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a side view of draft-rigging constructed in accordance with my invention, portions of the car-body being broken away more clearly to reveal features of the construction. Fig. 2 is a top view thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, of the lever and the associated mechanism. Fig. et is a partialrsecti'onal view on line 4f 4 of' Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional'view on line 5 5 of Fig. 1,

showing the association of the levers .and the draw-bar' yoke. Fig. Gis a sectional-view on Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are side and end views of the dampener-sleeve which I prefer to employ.

My improved `draft-rigging 'comprises in the preferred embodiment thereof a coupler 1, which is preferably lixedly-secured to a coupler-block 2 by means of bolts 3 passing therethrough. The coupler-block transfers the pull of the coupler to the car through the interposition of levers 4, which are fulcrunied upon angle-bars 5 5, which are iixedly secured to draft-timbers 6 6. are rigid with respect to the car-sills T 7, upon which the car-licor 8 is placed'. A cross-bnr 9 at the end of the car preferably unites the two side ear-sills and at the same time provides a support for the end wall 10 of the car, -upon which the bufiing-block 11 may be suit-.ablyv mounted, asis well understood in the art. The

Cross-bar 9 is suitably recessed, a groove l2 The draft-timbers (i (3' being provided therein, so that the bolts 3 when the coupler is moved forwardly may not engage the said cross-bar. The levers 4 are associated with the coupler-'block 2 through 5 the interposition of a draw-bar pin 13 and also with a yoke-block 14 for purposes to be hereinafter set forth. lThe yoke-block 14 is provided with a yoke-block pin 15, which engages slots 16, provided in the levers 4, which slots are of such size as to permit of a movement .of the yoke-bar pin therein `lon,r itudinally of vthe levers. The levers 4"-are thus pivotally mounted upon a stationary support associated with the i anglebars 5 and also pivotally mounted upon the yoke-block 14. which is yieldingly secured to the car-framework in the improved manner which I'will now describe.

-The yoke-block 14 is adapted to transfer the pull of the levers 4 to the car-sills 7 7 through the interposition of suitable springs 17 and 18, which springs arefmounted in a spring-sleeve 19. (Shown most clearly in Figs. 7, 8, and 9..) I prefer to employ a springdampener, which spring-dampener consists of levers 20, suitably arranged to have their lianges pressed outwardly into engagement with the sidesof the spring-sleeve 19 when the springs 18 and 19 are compressed, whereby the friction exerted by the levers 2() against the sides of the sp`ring-sleeve 19 exerts a dampening infiuence upon the action of the springs. The dampeners 20 impinge against a follower 21, while the opposite ends of the springs `engage a follower 22, both of which followers are mountedin grooves 23, which permit a movement of saidv followers tending to compress said springs, but which prevent a movement of the followers in a manner to permit an extension` of said springs, so that the springs may be confined within certain las its, beyond which they are not permitted to extend, but from which limit they may be eomf pressed any given amount'. as desired. The

45 grooves 23 arefprovided in draw-bar stops 24 24, lixedly secured tothecar-sills 7 7.

The yoke-block 14, which transfers the pull y of the levers to the car-springs through the 4interposition of the springs 17 and 18, is con'- nected with the said springs by a draw-bar yoke 25,l which is secured to the yoke-block 14 by means of the bolts 26. The draw-bar yoke 25 passes through the spring-sleeve 19 and around the follower 22, so that the levers 4 normally exert a pull against the said-'follower 22. A movement of the levers 4 out-` wardly caused by a pull against the car-coup ler 1 serves to compress the-springs 17 and 18'by the pressure of the draw-bar yoke 25 againstthe said follower.l The springs 17 and 18 upon compression serve to press the levers 20 of the spring-dampener outwardly against the dampener-sleeve 19, whereby' the sudden action of the spring is prevented and a gradual pull exerted against the car-sills'7 7.

The dam'pener-sleeve 19 which I prefer to employ is shown more clearly in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 and comprises, as shown therein, a circular body portion 27, provided'with square ribs 28 28, which ribs are preferably so designed as to be capable of engaging the slots 23 and of sliding therein,whereby a rotation of thesaid sleeve is prevented. The sleeve is also provided with rearwardly-,extending projections 29 and forwardly-extending projections 30, which act as checks to prevent too great a movement of -the springs. Thus when the follower 22 is moved by a pull exerted through the yoke 25 the said follower presses against the forwardly-extending projectionsv30 and cording to the movement of the said fllower. When the spring presses the follower in a backwardlydirection. the follower engages a looped extension 31 of the spring-sleeve, 3

whereby it serves to pull the said back into its original position.

The advantages Vwhich my, improved construction afl'ords are obvious, andthe same may be employed not only in connection with draft-rigging for cars, but may'also be applied to a number of other uses. l I have found in practice that'withthe'construction of my invention as I have proportioned the same for use in railway service'` with a standard spring of nineteen thousand pounds'capacity I am able to exert a draw-bar' pull of from forty thousand to sixty thousand pounds, or, in other words, the spring capacityv is many times increased, which inspring-sleeve crease depends of course upon the proportions ,employed for the levers 4. The springs may be increased in length to suit the length of the levers, it being preferable to maintain the distance which the draW-bartravels the(` same asin the recognized standard constructions hitherto employed. Thedarnpeners which -I prefer to employ in association with the sp'rings control the action -thereof and their friction increases the capacity of the springs, as'will be readily apparent. Y-

I have herein shownmy improved construction as applied particularly with thesp'rigdarnpeners shown and claimedinmyl prior patent, No. 709,998,`of date September 30,

8o 4moves the spring-sleeve 19 longitudinally acl roo IIO

1902; but 1 may usetherfspring-dampeners, y

if desired. y

It will be apparent that-the conplervvhich I l haveshown in conjunction withmyinve'ntion is susceptible of a variety of .modifications and any suitable means may be employed for transferring the pull exerted against a couplingappliance to thelevers,and I donot,

.theextraneous pull to the levers 4.

therefore, wish to limit myself to the use of `From what has been saidit-Willb under* l' stood that the mechanism above described is igo ' said draw-bar mechanism, a draw-bar yoke secured to said' yoke-block, a sliding sleeve connected with yoke, spring means confined in said sliding sleeve and arranged to be acted upon by said draw-bar yoke, levers arranged within said sleeve and consisting of longitudinally-extending portions lying alongside of the longitudinal walls of said sleeve and radiallydisposed portions extending transversely of said longitudinally-extending portions, the radially-disposed portions being located opposite the end of said spring means,

'and an abutment against which the radiallydisposed portions of said levers act, saidabutment being carried by the car-body, substantially'as described.

2. In apparatus of the class specified, a sliding sleeve 19 comprising a portion 27, laterally-extendingprojections 28,28, a longitudinally-projectingl portion 30, and an end por-v tion 31, substantially as described.

3. In apparatus of the class specified, the combination with the body, of guides 24, 24,

thereon, said guides having guideways 23,23, and a sliding sleeve 19 comprising a portion 27 provided with lateral projections 28,28, adapted to fit and work in the 23, substantially as described.

4. In apparatus ot' the class specified, the combination with the coupler, of spring means tending to resist the movementof the coupler, friction members actuated by said spring means, when subject to tension, to dampen the action thereof, and lever mechanisminterposed between the coupler and the spring means, substantially as described.

5. In apparatus of the class specified, tlie combination with the coupler 1, of levers 4, 4;, pivotally ,connected with the coupler, said connections being between the ends of the pivoted levers, a yoke-block 14 having a sliding connection with the levers near the free ends thereof,a yoke 25 secured to the block 14, springs 17 and 18 confined within the yoke 25, followers 21 and 22 at the ends of the springs 17 and 18, a sliding sleeve 19 inclosing the yoke 25 and actuated by the follower 22, the

levers 20, 20, having their longitudinal portions withinthe sleeve 19 and their transverse portions arranged at one end ot' the springs 17 and 18, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 29thI day ot' January, A. D. 1902.

. ALVIN C. MCCORD.- Witnesses:

MAX NV. DolsiliL, HARVEY L. HANsoN.

guideways 23, 

